


Gone and Back Again

by Writing_will_be_my_death



Series: Head Up, Eyes Forward [2]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Car Accident, Earth C, I swear theres a happy ending, M/M, Temporary Character Death, happy endings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-07
Updated: 2019-03-06
Packaged: 2019-10-06 00:04:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17334911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Writing_will_be_my_death/pseuds/Writing_will_be_my_death
Summary: It’s Earth C time, but things aren’t actually all that great.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys the sequel is finally started. It doesn’t reach my 1.2k word minimum for a chapter but tbh I really want to get to the later chapters in this since I finally know exactly what I want to do with this.

Earth C is a wonderful place to live, really. Karkat has been doing a lot of the legal work, with Terezi still looking for Vriska. He’s been tired, but he’s making sure that this place doesn’t end up with all the bad things of Earth and Alternia. You do your best to help him, but that mainly consists of snuggling him, and letting him complain about idiots at work. 

It’s strange, being a king and a god. People gawk at you whenever they see you, they snap pictures of you, they ask for your autograph. You used to joke about this stuff, but it’s kind of overwhelming.

Despite this, your friends have almost no problem being in public. Jade seems to love it, and tells wild stories whenever she visits. She visits a lot. 

Jake on the other hand, is apparently hating the attention. Last you heard, Dirk was working on a device to let people not recognize you as gods.

Rose and Kanaya continue to show off their stunning relationship everywhere, and their marriage helped with that. It also helped Karkat illegalise discrimination against cross-species relationships, which no one’s really sure how that got started.

You think everything is going wonderfully, honestly. That is, if you discount the constant nightmares everyone has. No one lives alone because of them. 

The human kingdom has a castle where all the rulers, John, Jane, their dad, and John’s nanna, all live. The Consort kingdom has the same thing, with Dirk, Jake, and GCATavrosprite living in their castle, which is more like a really big house. The Carapace kingdom also has a castle, but only Roxy and Calliope live in it. Rose and Kanaya have a house near the Carapace-Troll border. 

You and Karkat are the only permanent God residents of the Troll kingdom. Jade frequently stays over, but she’s more like a couch surfer. You never really know where she’s going to be sleeping. Terezi is rarely around at all, but will gladly crash either at your place or John’s.

Because of that, you and Karkat got to design the place where you would live however you wanted. You had no idea what you wanted, so you let Karkat decide. He made a replica of his old hive. 

It seemed like a good idea at first, but it’s caused him many times to wake up and think he’s on Alternia again. In response, you’ve put SBaHJ themed art and posters everywhere. Jade also has a bunch of plants in your hive. It helps a bit.

Everything is fine, until one day Rose sends you… an odd message.

tentacleTherapist [TT] began pestering turntechGodhead [TG]

TT: Dave, do you remember the visions I used to talk about? The premonitions of the future?  
TG: what no hello  
TG: this is bullshit  
TG: wheres your seven layers of fancy words before you got to the point  
TT: Dave this is serious.  
TG: oh  
TG: yeah i remember your future stuff  
TG: why  
TT: I had another one.  
TT: I’ve had a lot of them, actually, but this one…  
TT: Fuck.  
TG: what happened?  
TT: I saw the trolls, Kanaya, Karkat, and Terezi.  
TT: and  
TT: oh god.  
TG: rose  
TG: rose what happened  
TT: They  
TT: They died.  
TG:  
TG: fuck  
TG: god fucking damnit no  
TT: And I don’t know If I should tell them, I mean what if one of them, and I believe Karkat is unfortunately a perfect candidate for this, decides it’s better if they weren’t around when they died?  
TT: What if one of them just up and leaves to supposedly spare us the pain of watching them die?  
TG: shit  
TG: shit youre right  
TG: we cant tell them  
TT: Okay.  
TG: its gonna be ok rose  
TT: God, I hope so.  
TT: Fuck.

~

After Rose tells you the news, you spend an absurd amount of time around Karkat. He doesn’t question it, it’s not uncommon for one of you to have a week or so where you have an irrational fear of the other’s death, but weeks turn to months and Karkat gets concerned. He asks you about it, and you can’t tell him the truth. You know what he’ll do.

Then one day you get a plan. A great plan, an amazing plan, the bestest most amazing plan ever. And that plan helps you calm down, for awhile.

The more time passes, the more anxious you get, and as you wait on a street corner to see Karkat after a business meeting, you toy with a small box in your pocket. You’re going to set your plan in motion very soon, by the hill where you can see the remnants of the meteor.

You see him across the street, and wave and him. He waves back, more laid back, unaware of your plan.

He steps onto the street, and it’s over before you realize it.

All you can register is him lying on the pavement, covered in his own blood as a driver in a blood-splattered car drives away.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which all is good ... ?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha ha this is short IM SORRY

You rush onto the road with no regards to your own safety, your mind only on the fact that Karkat is *dead*.

If you were in a better frame of mind, you might know to call Jane, but all you can do is hug Karkat’s dead body, and cry. You cry and curse at every god, deity, and higher being ever to exist. You don’t even know why the person drove away, you thought everyone liked the gods, especially Karkat. It isn’t fair.

As you hold Karkat close to you and ball your eyes out, you notice that he’s getting warm. Like, really warm. Actually, he’s starting to almost burn you, what the fuck. And now he’s glowing, what the fuck? His body begins to levitate into the air, and you realize what’s going on.

Somehow, he’s god tiering. You’re not sure how, but if it means he’s not gonna die, then you’re not gonna question it.

The glow fades, and sure enough, he’s floating there in a knight’s outfit, with the blood colour scheme. He floats back down to the ground, and then his eyes open.

“What the fuck just happened?” He screams immediately.

You’re too shocked to give him an answer, and just stand up and hug him. You’re crying into his shoulder, and you’ve completely forgotten about the little box in your pocket.

His phone starts ringing, and it pulls you both back into reality as you get off the road. It’s a text from Jade.

gardenGnostic [GG] began pestering carcinoGeneticist [CG]

GG: omg karkat !!!!!  
GG: did you just die but godtier somehow?  
GG: because terezi was visiting, and some pots and stuff fell on her and i think she died :(   
GG: but then she godtiered????  
CG: YEAH I GOT HIT BY A FUCKING CAR  
GG: oh shit.  
CG: NOW I’M WEARING A FUCKING RED MONSTROSITY AND I FUCKING HATE IT.  
CG: NOW IF YOU’LL EXCUSE ME, DAVE IS STILL SHAKING FROM MY *LITERAL* DEATH  
GG: yea ok bye!!!

gardenGnostic [GG] ceased pestering carcinoGeneticist [CG]

“Shit, am I really shaking?”

“Like a leaf in the coldest of shitty winters.” He retorts, but his tone is comforting.

“I just,” you take a heavy breath, “I just can’t imagine living without you.”

He laughs, “Well, now I’m a god in shitty pajamas too, and everyone knows that those gods never fucking die.”

“Yeah,” you kiss his left cheek. “Yeah.”

Karkat holds your face and kisses you properly.

People are probably staring at you. After all, a god just died and came back to life! But somehow, you can’t bring yourself to care about them. Right now, you only care about him. You hope that this is all Rose saw, just this where the non-godtiers died to godtier. You hope Kanaya’s back too.

~

You fly back home, Karkat actually trying to fly too. He stumbles, hating the bright red sparkly dust follows him, yelling how he isn’t a fucking fairy. He complains that it isn’t fair, he deserves to look terrifying. You tell him that both Kanaya and Terezi have wings, and are still terrifying. You also mention Vriska. You briefly wonder if a troll/human hybrid would have wings, but erase that thought because hybrids don't exist, and if they did, none of them would godtier. Hopefully.

When you finally get home, Rose calls you.

“Did Karkat die and Godtier too?” She doesn’t even say hello.

“Yeah, everything good now? See any more deaths in the future?” Is this all your vision was?

“Yeah, god I hope so,” You’re glad.

“Good, now go do whatever the fuck it is people with wives do.”

“Ha and ha, you have fun too.”

After you hang up, there’s a little box in your pocket that you move to in your sylladex. Maybe it will be more relevant tomorrow

As the sun sets behind the horizon, you kiss Karkat, the person you love most in the world. You kiss him as you go up to your shared room, and, as he would say, “make love”.

In this moment, nothing is more important than Karkat being alive, and being with you.

~

The next morning, John sends out a mass text. All of the other 7 humans must help him fight Caliborn.

You don’t want to do this, but Karkat tells you to go. It’s not like he’s lord English yet, you’ll be fine. Plus you’ll outnumber him, even if he’s got Gamzee and a little robot.

So you go, warn him that you might not be back in time for dinner. Karkat laughs (god you love his laugh) and tells you to be back before tomorrow’s breakfast. He’ll kick your ass with all his panic if you don’t.

So you join the other humans, and you all back to the medium. 

And now you’re stuck inside this juju for who the fuck knows how long, unable to move. 

You don’t think you’ll be back in time for tomorrow’s breakfast.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comments are nice to read •̀.̫•́✧


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Freedom and foundness is all that you need.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> look at me!!! getting back to my 1.2k word count minimum!!!!

There’s a bright light. That’s odd. The only thing in this juju is Rose’s glowing, Jade’s teleportation to literally every area within the juju, and John, who for some reason is allowed to wander freely. You’re stuck unmoving, only able to move your consciousness through the different events of your life.

But now there’s a bright light, and it isn’t Rose. As a matter of fact, she’s dimming. Jade’s teleportation is becoming a little sparser, and you think you’re starting to be able to move your fingertips.

In a flash, you’re all sucked out into that light- through it, actually. After the white fades, you find yourselves back in the medium, except it’s almost empty. All that’s there is something that’s like the lily pad platform, John, Jade, Rose, and Vriska. The juju is nowhere to be found.

“About time you fuckers showed up! This thing wasn’t letting me leave.”

“What wasn’t letting you leave?” Rose asks. She sounds tired.

“I don’t know! There’s just a barrier around the platform. It’s probably gone now that you’re here.” Vriska doesn’t sound tired at all.

“I guess we should try it then!” John says. He also sounds tired.

Sure enough, when you walk off the platform in the correct area, it lets you back to Earth C. A lot has changed, there are new companies, and the whole feel is different. It used to feel like a utopia, now it just feels, normal. No one jumps out in joy when they see you, and there are election posters up for people you don’t recognize. People give you strange looks. You wonder what happened, you wonder what the others did.

You wonder how long it’s been.

You wonder if Karkat’s okay.

You wonder if he waited for you.

Vriska pushes you on, telling how without her you’d all just stand there like idiots. You take the main roads and back roads, not finding anyone you know.

When the sun starts to set, a familiar shrill voice echoes between the buildings, followed by a carefully spoken and elegant voice. They also sound tired.

When you turn another corner, you see them, Terezi and Kanaya. Terezi screams in joy and runs to hug Vriska. Kanaya and Rose meet half-way, hugging and kissing. Terezi then hugs Jade and tells her how Vriska will be hanging out with them now. Terezi then hugs John and then hugs you. You have a feeling she knows who you want to see.

Terezi tells you that she and the others were out at dinner when she thought she could smell you, and Kanaya came along to check it out. She gives you sad smile, and you worry about what it means.

John asks about the election posters, and Kanaya says that they’ve resigned from being godly leaders. No one has direct memory of gods being leaders, combined abilities were used to create that amnesia. Jade asks how long you were in the juju. Terezi says that it’s been a little over 4 years.

When you get to the restaurant, Dirk gives you a high five, and Roxy hugs you. Jake says it’s good to have you back, and Jane gives everyone a hug. Calliope says it’s good to see everyone again.

You don’t see Karkat.

You ask where he is, and Jane tells you that he went missing a few months after she and the other Alphas got back. His disappearance is partly what caused them to resign their godly leadership. 

Dinner is finished quickly, but you don’t want to go home, you want to see him. You tell Rose that you’re going to go look for Karkat. She wishes you luck and tells you that she’ll let you know if anyone finds out anything.

~

It’s been quite a few days, no one’s heard of a “Karkat Vantas” anywhere. You’ve gone to neighbouring cities and towns, but to no avail. It’s like he just… disappeared. It worries you.

You’re getting a drink at a café in a small town. Most stores have signs that say “No two-face allowed” or “one-face only allowed” the signs worry you. You don’t know what a two-face or a one-face is, so you stick to places that don’t have either sign, like this café. You ask the cashier at the café if she knows a Karkat, but she doesn’t.

A man approaches you. He has long brown hair, probably died because he’s a troll, very curled back horns, baggy clothes, and a pair of shades.

“Are you… Dave Strider?” He asks.

“Who’s asking?” You reply because he might think you’re actually a god. Also, he’s a stranger and you have no idea who he is, and he’s kind of scaring you.

“A guy who lives in the same apartment complex as me, his name is Karkat Vantas.”

You immediately stand up, “holy shit yes I’m Dave, where’s Karkat, is he okay? Is he safe? Is-”

The man laughs, “chill dude, I’ll text him to come over here.”

He sits down at your table and pulls out a phone. You sit back down, anxiously tapping your foot to an imaginary beat. After a few moments, he puts his phone away.

“Karkat should be here in a few minutes,” he says.

“Cool,” you reply because you don’t know what else to say. “Hey, actually, what’s a ‘two-face’ and a ‘one-face’? I’ve seen a few signs about them, but I have no idea what they’re talking about.”

He laughs and shakes his head, “you and Karkat are one-faces. Me and my siblings are two-faces.”

“What’s the difference between a two-face and a one-face? Do you actually have two faces?”

“It’s just a name. I’ll let Karkat explain more about the whole thing.”

In through the door comes a very familiar troll with nubby horns, and short, wild hair.   
Karkat.

He smiles at you with a smile that completely his, and you can’t stop yourself from running over and hugging him. Tears are definitely streaming down your face as you hold him and he holds you. You can feel his hot tears going through your shirt, and you hold him tighter. He pulls you down and kisses you, and everything feels right in the world.

He rests his forehead against yours and speaks softly, “missed you.”

“Missed you too.”

You tilt your head just enough so he can see your eyes over the rim of your shades.

“A lot’s happened since you left,” Karkat says with a sad voice. “We should sit down.”

So you do sit down, back where that guy from before was still sitting. Karkat’s seated next to you, holding your hand, and the other guy is across from you.

“So what’s happened?” You ask. “Why did you leave everyone else.”

Karkat looks away with a guilty face, and you squeeze his hand in reassurance. Whatever happened, you’re not leaving him, not if he wants you to stay. You are a little afraid that he might’ve found someone else, though.

“For starters, I know what you’re thinking and no, I haven’t dated anyone else,” He takes a quick glance at you, and you smile with relief. “To get to what’s made everything complicated,” He takes a deep breath, looking away from you. “human-troll hybrids exist.”

The implications of that statement hit you like a truck.

You’re pretty sure that you’re a father now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YALL  
> no idea how long i wanted to write this.  
> what do you guys think??? 
> 
> please comments are my LIFE BLOOD


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where everything is finally okay

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you guys like this over 2k word chapter!!

Karkat starts crying, and you hug him. He’s crying and shaking, and for some reason, this is enough to make the guy across the table decide to leave.

“I’m sorry,” Karkat says into your shoulder.

“You don’t have anything to apologize for,” you tell him.

“I know, I fucking know that but I still feel so fucking guilty.”

He pulls away from you a bit, but you keep one arm around him, a reassurance that you’re here, and you’re not leaving. Karkat takes out his phone, and opens the photo gallery, he scrolls to picture of him, and two small children, no older than 5. 

The one on his left has the same horns as him, and a similar hairstyle, except blonde. The child has the same pale skin as you but also has troll eyes. The child’s look appears vacant, but it’s easy to tell that they’re just too curious about everything. 

The one on his right has straight black hair pulled back into a ponytail, unobstructed by horns. The child has troll skin, but the same eyes that you have, and an expression that only someone related to Karkat could make, an angry smile.

Karkat points to the blonde one, “That's Tayli,” and then to the black haired one, “and that’s Lelah.”

“What do they like?” 

“Lelah likes nothing, except for plush animals for some reason. Tayli likes everything, she doesn’t smile, but she does want to participate in literally everything.” He smiles, probably remembering a fond memory.

“When do I get to meet them?”

“When we go to the apartment building and pick them up from Krisa’s place.”

“Then let’s go!” You smile widely as you stand up, pulling Karkat along with you.

He gives a small laugh and puts his phone away. You hold his hand, not ever wanting to let go of him again. As you walk out onto the streets, you see the two-face and one-face signs again. You meant to ask about that.

“Hey, what do all these signs about one-face and two-face mean? Are there actually people with two faces?”

Karkat sighs, “No, they’re- they’re talking about hybrids. It’s thought that because they have two species in them that they have personalities, or ‘faces’.”

That’s fucked up.

“That’s fucked up. It shouldn’t be legal for them to do that.” You thought there was a law against discrimination.

“It’s illegal to refuse service to any person, and a person is any Troll, Human, Carapace, or Consort. It says nothing of combinations of those species.”

“Fucking hell, how wasn’t this caught when you were in office?”

“People who knew about it made sure I didn’t. When I got hit? That was a hybrid, fed up with the fact that I hadn’t responded to his complaints of not being a person,” he stops walking. “I never even saw his complaints, someone was throwing them out.”

So… that’s why he got hit. “Have you helped out the guy?”

“He was murdered two years ago.”

Oh. Ok. 

Karkat starts walking again, “It’s all too common for hybrids to get killed. Not quite the level that mutants were killed on Alternia, maybe the level of bronze bloods.”

Tayli and Lelah are at risk. You don’t want them to be at risk, maybe you could call up Terezi, she’d probably be able to sue the government or something.

Karkat turns towards a mildly run-down apartment building, it’s heavily graffitied with death threats and the Condesce’s sign. Some of the graffiti has been graffitied over with positivity. It’s a graffiti war. You walk inside to the lobby, and there are people, mainly hybrids and a few trolls and humans, everywhere. Karkat waves at a few people and you wave too. Everyone looks suspicious of you.

He takes you up two flights of stairs, walks over to room 324, and knocks on the door. A middle-aged woman with short brown hair, one curled back horn on the left side of her head, grey skin and human brown eyes wearing a sweater and sweatpants opens the door.

“Hello, come in! I take it this is him?” She speaks to Karkat but gestures to you. 

“Yeah, Dave, this is Krisa, the woman who will watch anyone’s kids for free. Krisa, this is Dave, my boyfriend who I am very glad has returned,” Karkat says as you step into Krisa’s apartment and close the door behind you.

“Hey,” you say to Krisa, and put out your hand for a handshake. 

“It’s good to meet you, I’ve heard a lot about you,” she replies and shakes your hand.

“Dad!” A small and angry voice shrieks.

Lelah comes running, crashes into Karkat’s leg, and hugs him. He picks her up, and it’s incredible how similar they are.

“Did you have fun at Krisa’s?” Karkat asks.

“No,” she replies. That.. wasn’t what you were expecting.

“And why didn’t you have fun?” Karkat seems like this is a common response for Lelah.

“I wasn’t allowed to eat markers.”

“Lee, you can’t eat markers, they’ll make you sick.”

She pouts, then turns to look around and sees you.

“Who that,” it’s less of a question, and more of a statement, but hey that’s four-year-olds.

“That’s your papa, I was telling you I was going to see if he was coming back.”

You wave at her and smile.

“When you leaving,” she asks you.

“I’m not leaving, not ever.”

She gives you a confused look, before turning away from you and leaning against Karkat’s shoulder. Karkat gives you a sad smile.

“Tayli!” He calls into the apartment, “it’s time to go home!”

Tayli saunters into the front entrance, left hand in her mouth, and stops once she’s completely visible, looking up at you with wide eyes. You wave and smile at her, and she waves back, before stumbling over to Karkat and making a grabbing motion with both hands. Karkat picks her up too, and she goes back to having her left hand in her mouth and staring at you.

“Thanks for watching them,” Karkat says to Krisa.

“No problem,” she replies as you open the door for Karkat, and the two of you walk out.

Tayli doesn’t stop staring at you, and Lelah starts singing the alphabet, very loudly. She doesn’t know all the letters, so she restarts when she forgets what comes next. You climb up another three flights of stairs and go to room 612.

It’s a small two bedroom apartment, with possibly the smallest kitchen you’ve ever seen, and yet it still looks like a more functional kitchen than the one you grew up with. 

Karkat puts Lelah and Tayli down on the couch one at a time, then sits down next to them. Tayli gets up and runs off to a different room, while Lelah continues the alphabet. You sit next to Karkat, and he leans against you.

“Lelah, why don’t you sing a different song?” Karkat asks her.

She pauses, then begins to sing what you can only assume is the Alternian alphabet song, based on how Karkat crushes his face into your shoulder. You can’t help but let out a small laugh. Tayli runs back in with a paper and a bunch of pencils sits down on the floor in front of the coffee table and starts to draw. 

Her drawings are absolutely stunning. Not in the “child prodigy” kind, but in her enthusiasm in drawing complete squiggles. She looks up at you occasionally, and you can only assume she’s drawing you.

You put an arm around Karkat, and honestly, you’re happy here. You take off your shades and hook them on the collar of your shirt since there’s nothing to hide from here. When Tayli looks up at you again, she climbs up to Lelah and whispers something in her ear. Lelah stops singing and looks at you.

“I don't care,” she says, and you are confused.

“Uh, what don’t you care about?” You ask.

A small, quiet voice speaks softly, “you, you and lee have the um, the, the same eyes.”

“Yeah, we do,” you reply, because what else are you supposed to say.

“I don’t care!!” Lelah huffs, and it’s obvious she does care. Even with the new human genetic diversity, red eyes aren’t normal.

Tayli leans against Lelah, who huffs again, and leans against Karkat. Karkat laughs a little.

More time passes, Karkat makes dinner, and Lelah and Tayli argue. Lelah yells everything and Tayli repeats every other word, and you do your best to interact with them. Dinner is eaten, and you try and help Karkat put the kids to bed. You end up needing to leave as Lelah keeps telling you to.

You hope she doesn’t always hate you.

“Sorry about Lelah,” Karkat whispers as he comes out of their room.

“It’s fine, I’m a new and strange person.”

He sighs, “I know, I just, I thought that, I don’t know, they’d somehow already have that connection with you. They’ve seen pictures of you, they know you-”

“But they don’t,” you put your hand on Karkat’s cheek. “Kat, they don’t know me. And that’s okay, I’m just some stranger who was in a few old pictures with their dad.”

He collapses into your chest, bringing his arms up to hug you, and you hug him back.

“I hope that they end up liking you,” he says into your chest.

“Me too.”

You feel like now might be the best time you’ll get to bring up that little box in your sylladex. It’s not the ideal time, but it’s the best you’ll get.

“Hey, kat?”

“Yeah?”

“Before all this happened, your death, my disappearance, there was something I uh, wanted to ask you,” you don’t know why you’re nervous, you and Karkat are going to be raising a goddamn family together.

You take the little box out of your sylladex, still holding Karkat close, and hand it to him. You know you’re doing this all wrong, but honestly, nothing about this situation is normal. Karkat opens the box and smiles at you.

“Technically, you haven’t asked a question yet.”

“Yeah, yeah,” you reply, “So, will you be my husband?”

“Yeah, I will,” and he kisses you.

You end up going to bed almost immediately, snuggling up with Karkat, and you feel so comfortable, you feel home. It’s easy to fall asleep.

The sleep is interrupted, however, by your door opening, and a small blonde-haired and nubby-horned child, Tayli. You sit up and see that her eyes are bloodshot, and there are tear streaks down her face.

“Did you have a nightmare?” You ask her.

She nods. 

“Do you want me, or your dad?” As much as you want to help her, she hardly knows you.

She just puts her left hand in her mouth and leans up against you. 

“Alright, let’s go make you something.”

Your plan is to get her some warm milk and honey, and you are happy to see that there is indeed milk in the fridge and honey in the cabinet. You warm up the milk and honey in a mug in the microwave.

“Here you go, one nice warm mug of sleeping juice,” you say as you hand the mug to Tayli.

Tayli, however, has other plans as she shakes her head and pats the couch.

“Alright, I’ll sit,” and you sit where you assume she wants you to.

Much to your surprise, Tayli climbs up on your lap, and then motions for you to give her the mug. You do hand her the mug, and she drinks it happily, you think. It’s hard to tell if she’s happy when she never smiles.

“Is it good sleeping juice?”

She nods.

“Think it’ll stop any more nightmares?” You know it won’t, but optimism for kids is always great, right?

“Daddy give, gives me this too. The night, nightmares still happen.”

“Do you want to talk about them?”

“I don’t, I don’t remember what hap, happens.”

“That’s weird,” you remark, but a part of you is glad that she doesn’t remember. Who knows what she’s conjuring up in her subconscious.

She finishes her milk and honey️️, and holds onto your pant leg as you walk her back to her room.

“Alright, into bed you go,” you whisper, really not wanting to wake Lelah on the other bed in the room.

Tayli happily climbs into bed and gets nice and cozy under the blankets.

“Night Tayli,” you tell her as you ruffle her hair. You’re not quite sure how to interact with children yet.

“Good night papa,” she replies, and you’re so happy that she already sees you as a father-figure. 

You sneak back into your own room, happy to see that Karkat is still sleeping. You get back into bed next to him and hug him. You think that this is going to be an amazing life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you want more, let me know. I might post it regardless, but the chances are pretty low. If it does continue, it'll focus more on Lelah and Tayli, and im not sure how people would feel about the main characters being OCs.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos keep me motivated!!! ✧٩(•́⌄•́๑)و ✧


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